(1900–93), U.S. business consultant, born in Sioux City, Iowa; B.S. Univ. of Wyoming 1921; Ph.D. Yale Univ. 1928; statistician, Western Electric, Cicero, Ill., 1924–27; U.S. Dept. of Agriculture 1927–38, Bureau of the Census 1939–45; worked with quality control expert Walter Shewhart of Bell Laboratories; advised War Dept. during World War II; went to Japan 1947 and lectured industrialists; advised against imitating U.S. industrial and business practices; ideas revolutionized Japanese approach to manufacturing; Japan's annual Deming Prize named for him; gave seminars to U.S. businesses into his 90s; principles include abolishing production quotas, making top management, not workers, accountable for success or failure, quality control of product from raw material through finish; author of ‘Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position' (1986).